One Year Ago...

It's a sad anniversary today, and since it's the first anniversary of the Newtown, Connecticut school shooting there will be plenty of attention paid to the aftermath.

A recent Sports Illustrated had a feature story on one of the children killed, a six year old, and the continuing sadness experienced by his family and those left behind.

Newtown, Columbine, Aurora, West Virginia - those capture our tearful attention.

Leaders mourn the loss and pledge action.  Time passes - more people are killed.  A recent USA Today feature reported that in the United States there is a mass killing of four or more, not including the killer, every two weeks, on average.

Since the Newtown school shooting last year on this date, 132 have been shot in mass shootings through December 2.  To be considered a mass shooting, there are four or more victims.

Surprised?

Or, maybe more surprising is how quickly news of these pass us by, barely causing a ripple on our radar screens.

One thing that defines what news is, is the frequency in which it happens.

Car accidents, dog bites, home break-ins... are not all that newsworthy in most places because they are not uncommon events.

Mass killings are newsworthy, especially where they happen, but on a national scale unless there is something that makes it different (location, victims, number of casualties) those stories fade or blend into the next one.

The people of Newtown asked the national TV networks to stay out of town today, so the city, especially the children, could continue to heal.

 As an alumnus, so to speak, of the news biz, I always told my friends who complained about the lack of "good news" on the local broadcast that it was positive for that to be the case.

Doing good becomes newsworthy when it is a rare event.  Thankfully, as bad and depressing as some of the events in our communities, towns, states, country, and world... that has been, is now, and will be the case for a while... if each of us forges forth to provide help and service to others.

Now that, in my opinion, would be a good way to honor the victims and survivors of Newtown and the tragedies that happen around us all too frequently.